Serenes Forest's Teehee Thread

[Acacia Sgt]

O. M. G. It's official. Trump found guilty in all 34 charges.

[Lightcosmo]

uhhh... whoops!

[Armagon]

2 hours ago, Codename Shrimp said:

>Turkish Galatasary fans chanting "Foreigners out" in Germany

Cuban Americans be like

2 hours ago, Codename Shrimp said:

>American Airlines going full victim blaming on 8 yo and then full racism mode later

The fact that they chose to go with the full lawsuit and not just settle is insane. I know corpos are on easy mode but "your honor, it's the child's fault for not knowing she was being recorded in the bathroom" does not look good for anyone.

40 minutes ago, Acacia Sgt said:

O. M. G. It's official. Trump found guilty in all 34 charges.

Convicted felon Donald Trump has a nice ring to it.

Now let's see if he gets actual jail time.

[Acacia Sgt]

1 minute ago, Armagon said:

Convicted felon Donald Trump has a nice ring to it.

Now let's see if he gets actual jail time.

Sentence will be given on July 11. We gonna be waiting for a while.

[Lightcosmo]

7 minutes ago, Armagon said:

Convicted felon Donald Trump has a nice ring to it.

Now let's see if he gets actual jail time.

Shouldn't anyone guilty of wrong-doing be subject to that? XD

[Interdimensional Observer]

The presentation was as corporate as last year🥱- and barely any new RF information, they didn't even reveal the -likely already legally-teased- official subtitle. Why'd they have to do the presentation now if they were going to show so little on basically everything? Why not wait 2-3 months?🤔 

Oh well, will impatiently get back to waiting for when they reveal the NPCs/town and release date. It'll be a random day in a random week when they probably do the big showcasing and catch me by surprise. They did say they'd get two major games out by the end of this fiscal year, so Project Dragon is probably an end-of-life Switch game, and Marvelous isn't holding back information for reasons of waiting on Nintendo to show the successor system.

Visually I guess Project Dragon does look nice-ish, but I'm flexible on technical visual quality. As for the "Earth Dancer" thing, a stylish twist on the old concept sure, but the only dance I want to do is the hori*assassinated*.

 

4 hours ago, Codename Shrimp said:

Hang in there, friend! I don't know what else to say, but i hope you'll some day find the happiness you seek!

Thank you!😀

Edited May 30 by Interdimensional Observer

[Codename Shrimp]

I wonder how this will look like when i eventually fill it 🤔. Really majoy RH vibes tbh.

Also
>World Line 217

?
*reloads*
World Line 218

Nice detail tbh. Basically every reload is a new world Line. System-Story-Integration. 😎

Edited May 30 by Codename Shrimp

[Armagon]

2 hours ago, Acacia Sgt said:

Sentence will be given on July 11. We gonna be waiting for a while.

Gonna phone up The Doctor and come back with the news.

1 hour ago, Lightcosmo said:

Shouldn't anyone guilty of wrong-doing be subject to that? XD

You'd think.

Tbf a felon conviction does make for harsher sentences for later trials.

 

[Interdimensional Observer]

...Somehow I missed the important detail, but they're actually getting rid of farming for Project Dragon?🤨 So goes the franchise's original subtitle. Although, maybe that's why they're not using a number on this one. Frontier and Tides of Destiny did have farming, though it was watered down in the latter. That was ages ago, however, perhaps now it's "if it doesn't have a number, agriculture is optional". Maybe. It's not entirely unsurprising, since last year I remember they defined Rune Factory with three words, and "farming" wasn't one of them. You can still have an A/JRPG on the cozier side of things without crops I believe, although the good old SoS calendrical system might lose some purpose without them.

Also:

The new male protagonist doesn't look too bad. The polka-dot stars(?) on his left arm I don't get, but otherwise Subaru looks kinda cute. The white whatever-you-call-it has something of a onmyoji/Shinto priest vibe to it and did I ever mention I'd be open to frocking a priest?.⛩️

[Acacia Sgt]

Wait, what? Huh, that's interesting.

[Interdimensional Observer]

Just now, Acacia Sgt said:

Wait, what? Huh, that's interesting.

"Players can choose to play as either Subaru or Kaguya, two new Earthmates with a twist; they will use the power of dance, rather than farming, to communicate and interact with the world around them. This new approach to interacting with the world comes with non-combat tools, including parasols and drums; series staple weapons like swords; and brand-new weapon types to experiment with, including bows and talismans."

If dancing means mandatory rhythm-based minigames, I AM OUT!

Does this mean we have to replicate the myth where Ame no Uzume does a raunchy dance to bring light back to the world?😛

[Acacia Sgt]

Would've been funnier if the dancing was required for farming. lol

I can't wait for mods popping out replacing the soundtrack... XD

Anyway, also got a chuckle at the gliding parasol. Mostly since the first thing such image brings me is Princess Peach.

[Interdimensional Observer]

2 minutes ago, Acacia Sgt said:

Would've been funnier if the dancing was required for farming. lol

And on that.:

I failed this several times.🌸

[Lightcosmo]

2 hours ago, Armagon said:

You'd think.

Tbf a felon conviction does make for harsher sentences for later trials.

Sadly not the way the world usually works, but it would be nice if the system worked and protected the victims as it was meant to.

[Lightcosmo]

Sadly money is more important than justice or truth.

[Acacia Sgt]

Didn't knew Kirito showed up in other anime as well, pft.

 

[Interdimensional Observer]

The aforementioned statement might be wrong/misleading, actually?🤔 Since, after reading comments, I did go back to last year's announcement and noticed this.:

Given the boxiness of the field and spacing of the turnips, it totally looks like a typical gameplay patch o' arable.🌱 (The little building right there is either a pre-renovation house or monster barn methinks then.) Unless they uprooted this for reasons, the Earth Dancer statement is probably wrong?

...Technically, the protagonists of Rune Factory have never been intentionally farmers. Always "hey amnesia guy/gal, take this hoe and grow stuff!", barring Aden and Sonja, who are totally the least agricultural of the bunch. Always Earthmates, always aligned with nature by their inner nature, but only farmers by pure random happenstance they always roll with.

Interpreting things like that, you could say the Rune Factory franchise is being more honest with what it has become. A relaxed ARPG with dating sim elements, with nature always dominant in aesthetics and lore. Farming, while trying to be of equal standing in the earlier games (RF1, RF2, Frontier), gradually lost prominence over time. Farming still existing is possible, but in a way more as a quaint vestige of franchise's ancestry than a compelling core aspect. Maybe.😅

[Armagon]

This would go hard as hell actually.

7 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Given the boxiness of the field and spacing of the turnips, it totally looks like a typical gameplay patch o' arable.🌱 (The little building right there is either a pre-renovation house or monster barn methinks then.) Unless they uprooted this for reasons, the Earth Dancer statement is probably wrong?

It might be like Harvestella where the farming is an aspect but not like, the point.

[Interdimensional Observer]

8 minutes ago, Armagon said:

It might be like Harvestella where the farming is an aspect but not like, the point.

-What I was trying to say, but in fewer words.😅

The possibility that farming doesn't exist -be it true or false- does seem to be a negative for some. Ofc it doesn't matter to me, since I was fine with ToD though the ocean's emptiness/time-wasting there is yet another sign of how RF was traditionally a budget franchise.

[Acacia Sgt]

I suppose if they have the aspects of being an Earthmate focus on more or other than just the farming, I guess that's fine.

[Interdimensional Observer]

19 minutes ago, Acacia Sgt said:

I suppose if they have the aspects of being an Earthmate focus on more or other than just the farming, I guess that's fine.

At its inception, you could say the idea was -and still is to an extent- as much about closeness to monsters. Raguna having some measure of affinity with Terrable, no?

...I'm suddenly feeling like getting back to that one idea of mine.😆

[Acacia Sgt]

11 minutes ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

At its inception, you could say the idea was -and still is to an extent- as much about closeness to monsters. Raguna having some measure of affinity with Terrable, no?

...I'm suddenly feeling like getting back to that one idea of mine.😆

Well, monster taming has been there since the beginning, yes. I'll admit I don't know much about RF1's plot to say, other than Terrable does stop Sech's tanks when they were en route to Kardia.

Hm, an idea, huh.

[Interdimensional Observer]

1 hour ago, Acacia Sgt said:

Hm, an idea, huh.

Well, it did start as a Rune Factory fanfiction idea.😄 Though I've shifted it away somewhat I've since given it the utilitarian name "Runecraft Story". I don't quite remember how it started, possibly as "What if an RF Protagonist began as a single-parent?". Now, rather than explain this via a past relationship of some kind or finding an abandoned child, I opted for something more... magical. That being, the child's other "parent" is nature itself. Although I quickly, not sure why, not what influenced it when I decided this, decided to invent a nature spirit as the non-Protag parent. But nature in the abstract is still important, as the child of nature only gets conceived when the winds literally blow the right way, when the Sun shines just right, when the nonstop chirping of the birds echoes through oneself, when it's all so beautiful.

The basic outline of the plot has been persistent. Protagonist, belonging to ancient secret special nature tribe, is away experiencing nature. Just as they're about to return from months' absence in time for the major festival of their society, with their child newly-born, a calamity strikes. Things cut for the player as the Protag goes off to investigate, and don't resume until sometime later, IDK when exactly, couldn't decide whether to include a massive +100-year timeskip, or keep things within months of the time of the disaster. When the Protagonist is seen again, they're at least partially amnesiac, now living in an outpost of some empire or kingdom they knew nothing of, on the fringe of their tribe's big island. What the Protagonist doesn't have, is their baby, not their nature spirit.

The 1st story arc would be "Remembrance", involving with the Protag findings spots particularly rich in nature and regaining missing memories. Most would be restored at the end, and they would regain their child at the same time. The nature spirit would still be missing though, as it turns out they and many other nature spirits are keeping the Great Evil responsible for the disaster sealed away. The 2nd story arc would continue from there, and end with the evil vanquished and Protag reunited with their spirit at last. A 3rd story arc would loosely exist in the form of the postgame, to actually show the Protag and beloved spirit making new memories together.

Details of a Definite Kind From Years Ago.:

Spoiler

Lore:

• The Arboreal- The name of the special, secretive nation which lay at the center of the plot, to which the Hero/Heroine belongs.
  • The name reflects their closeness to nature, and them regarding themselves as no more removed from nature as the trees. Humility and pride together.
  • All Arboreal are Earthmates to some degree, being born and raised in a pristine environment and culture that facilitates this.
• Phenomenon- The term used by the Arboreal to describe intense experiences with nature.
  • Phenomenon, or Phenomena in singular, are capable of happening to sentient creatures, human or otherwise.
  • A Phenomena is a cathartic, sensuous situation. It transcends the senses, leaving the participant feeling as though they have made contact with the world itself, learning what cannot be known nor described in language.
  • Duration of Phenomenon varies from event to event, as does the exact feelings, with what aspect of nature, and the circumstances that produce a Phenomena.
  • The Arboreal regard Phenomenon as enlightenment, events which all should strive to experience.
  • Being a curious species, the Arboreal have tried to discern what causes Phenomenon and to facilitate Phenomenon among their human member and domesticated monsters.
    • This study has bore little to show for it however, as true Phenomenon simply, naturally, happen, often unexpectedly. All the sincere meditation in the world can’t force it. Nonetheless, humans pour effort into actively striving for it.
• The Breathless- The term, (both singular and plural) noun and adjective, used by the Arboreal to describe those who experience Phenomenon.
  • [Breathless- as in "who has been left breathless/had their breath taken away" aka "left in a state of pure awe".]
  • The quantity of experienced Phenomenon matters not, one or nine, a person is still equally Breathless.
  • Feral monsters who have become Breathless are usually respected and left wild and along. Though if they prove too much of an aggressive danger to human civilization, they will forsake veneration and kill them.
  • Domesticated monsters who are Breathless are given the same level of respect as feral Breathless. They furthermore are spared execution if that would normally happen in their species's useful lifespan.
  • Breathless humans are regarded as “chosen” by the rest of the Arboreal community. Bestowed with customary honors by all.
    • However, Breathless humans are not an elite caste who have absolute control over the Arboreal community. They remain subject to the same laws with the same merit-based opportunities as anybody else.
    • The reasons for this egalitarianism are several.:
      • All humans have the potential to experience Phenomena, though the majority never will in their lifetimes.
      • The Breathless’s membership being very irregular in composition and acquiring of new recruits also hinders the formation of a ruling elite.
      • Another limitation is that practically everyone in Arboreal society has a claim to Breathless ancestry. The Breathless have intermarried with ordinary folk, both before and after they experience their first Phenomena. And their children marry the same.
• The Manifested- Spirit-like beings that can be created by Phenomenon. They are purely magical entities, able to temporarily take physical form if sought.
  • The Arboreal named them “Manifested” -also known as “Manifestation(s)”- as they are the impersonal majesty of nature given sentient form.
  • The Manifested all possess varying magical elements within them, aligning the details of the Phenomena that spawned them.
    • So a Phenomena on a hot summer day in a flower field with still winds would result in a Manifested with Earth and Fire elements in its composition, perhaps flowers in their shape if they had a more substantial form.
  • The Manifested vary in their sentience. They can be almost mindless and invisible nature spirits. Or, they can take the form of plants or animals or humanoid form. Any of those three possibilities can have bestial intelligence or high/human intelligence.
  • All Manifested are linked to the specific Breathless whose Phenomena experience resulted in their creation. The sentience and form of the Manifested not linked to the Breathless who created it.
  • A Phenomena does not have to result in a Manifestation. And if a creature experiences multiple Phenomenon, not all of them will necessarily produce a Manifestation. There is also the chance of an existing Manifestation linked to that Breathless being strengthened.
  • When a Breathless dies, all Manifestations linked to them begin to recede as well, being recycled into the natural world from whence they emerged.
• The Incarnated- The physical offspring born to one of the Breathless and of their Manifested.
  • [“Incarnated” from the Latin “made flesh”. This is important for not getting confused between the Manifested and the Incarnated. The Manifested are nature spirits, the Incarnated are physical creatures.]
  • The Incarnated are born as the result of a Phenomena, sometimes the same Phenomena as births their Manifested parent.
  • The Incarnated are physical children, and ~85% of the time, are of the species that their Breathless is. Although they have also been known to take other forms. Such as a human producing a wolf monster, or a fish monster creating a bird monster.
  • The Incarnated are akin to other members of the species they are born as, though with somewhat enhanced lifespans and physical, mental, and spiritual capacities. They are more sensitive to the natural environs they reside in, and their physical features include altered aspects reflecting their half-spirit parentage.
  • The Incarnated can interbreed with members of their species, Incarnations or not. The resulting children do not inherit the physical features or powers of their Incarnated parent, regardless of their parent’s spouse.
  • The Incarnated are incapable of experiencing Phenomenon. They already have a heightened awareness of nature, in a sense they are akin to being Breathless from the moment of their birth. The base awareness is what Breathless attain in their defining experiences.
  • The Incarnated, like the Breathless, are highly respected, but do not comprise a ruling elite in Arboreal society. They are legally, socially, and economically equals to the rest.
• The Returning- An event the Manifested and Incarnated can experience. A closeness to nature so severe, that they fade from existence, or metamorpihize into a natural form.
  • The natural form brought on by a Returning can vary greatly. It can be a tree, a rainstorm, that if great enough (which is rarely the case) then possibly creates a new lake, or a mountain, to name a few examples.
  • A Returning is a somber event.
    • It is beautiful, because it means a being has become one with the world.
    • That is it a kind of death however, makes it understandably sad for those close to the Manifested or Incarnated who Returned. Parents of Incarnated have lost precocious children and promising young adults to Returning incidents.
  • The Manifested, as they are hardly removed from nature itself, can readily Return to it, and to some degree can force it, with the experience sensationally only somewhat unusual.
  • For the Incarnated, a Returning is akin to a Phenomena experience for them. It is very intense on their heightened senses. Possessing a much greater deal of spirit in material substance, they can shed or mutate their mortal physical forms as the Breathless and ordinary creatures cannot.

Rambling considerations from this past month alone.:

Spoiler

Thinking back on your old Rune Factory idea of the Arboreal, maybe RF is a bad choice? From a structural perspective. The nature-theming I’d want to keep, but could Swordcraft Story be better for narrative and whatnot?

In that case, I’d opt for two towns. [Or not, I'd later consider sticking to a single town.] One, that of normal humans on the outskirts of the Arboreal territory. It’d be here where the protagonist begins, learning equipment crafting. The second village would be a hidden a distance within the Arboreal territory, Here, we would get magically-accelerated farming, just to keep an element of that b/c nature, but nowhere near RF/SoS. Still, said farming would be useful for combat purposes. It gets unlocked in the story a little later, after the player gets a good grounding in combat/forging basics and the world/people of the normal city.

I would likewise still keep a core premise- the protagonist is separated from their Manifested. Which, adding in Summon Night, becomes akin to their Guardian Beast. And that they indeed produced an Incarnated baby together. -But, the player would be able to friendzone their Manifested, in case they pursued a real relationship with someone else. Flashbacks between protagonist and their Manifested would feature dialogue choices that would either boost Friendship Points or Love Points, allowing the player to flavor their past relationship with their Manifested.

*Snip*

Now, on the baby matter, the Incarnated remains in stasis the entire time until they’re rescued, so they’ll still be a newborn infant. For the protagonist’s age, if we made them 18 in the present moment, that would mean they produced a baby at age 13. Even if it was via magic, no physical intercourse or gestation nor delivery, it’d still be …uhhh. Raising the protagonist’s age to 21-22 would still mean it was a borderline-underaged procreation, but better, and still within typical anime protagonist age limits. …Maybe a three-year passing from the disaster would be enough, it worked for Fei. Two years? One-and-a-half?

For the Manifested, there would be four gameplay-visual options ala Swordcraft Story would probably be sufficient. One design for each of the four classical elements. This choice also affects the appearance of their Incarnated. However, since they are beings that may reflect the passionate desires of the protagonist, each of the four Manifested concepts would have two designs- one masculine and one feminine. Yes, that means some extra writing workload, but this is one of the most important characters around.

However, the thing about the Guardian Beast is that they were around from beginning to end. Yet, you wish to maintain separation between the protagonist and the Manifested until the very end of the story. How to square this circle? …Well, with magic. You do intend to have the protagonist regain their child at the end of the first intra-story arc. The protagonist, though they understand the source of the magic not, always have with them a magic object (let’s go with a rock and call it an “Opal”) that provides them with elemental spells. This was a gift their Manifested left on their person before they were warped away. It’s in part thanks to this parting present that the protagonist is able to regain some of their missing memories, and discover their child. Once the Incarnated is found, the protagonist soon thereafter finally, perhaps after a day-long strong headache from reuniting with their baby, recall their missing other. It’s at this point that the Opal generates a “Shade” of the Manifested. The Shade is not the Manifested themselves, the Opal does contain a fragment of the Manifested’s spirit, but it is disconnected from the rest of the spirit. That soul fragment, connected via the Opal with the memories of the protagonist of their Manifested, is what the Shade consists of, which resembles the Manifested in appearance and personality. This unlocks the Shade for late-night bonding moments and story interactions, and also strengthens the spells provided by the Opal.

Outside of the Manifested, I was thinking of having, in a Swordcraft approach, only 5 other potentially dateable characters- two male, two female, one nonbinary. However, I would throw in three or so purely platonic bonders too. Not a ton, but with the Manifested coming in four different personalities/designs and either gender, that should hopefully be helpful. …But, you won’t have much of an idea of their personality until you start playing, and you can’t change it later.

On the Incarnated, rather than have them be completely irrelevant outside of narrative, I would make them show up in the gameplay in little ways. While assigning a default caretaker to the newborn while their parent is off trying to save the land, I would allow the player to decide who from a short list does the rearing. The MC does obtain a “Birthstone”, which can fused into a piece of equipment or used to cast a spell, as it contains a droplet of the Incarnated’s essence, without negatively effecting the child. What exactly is provided by the Birthstone is reflective of how the infant feels, which is determined by its nurturing. The Birthstone is but a minor element element of gameplay, the player could not ever use it just fine. But it’d be there to make the child slightly present. Another such touch would be having some of the bonding events feature the Incarnated, after all, in the romantic ones, the MC would potentially end the story giving their child a (step)parent.

The bonding scenes in Swordcraft Story were few and just for fun, no real rewards or outcomes dependent on who you bond with. I’d leave in the late nights as special bonding scenes, but add a bunch of non-exclusive daytime normal characterization moments. Ideally not in an overly formalized way.

…Bonding wasn’t that important when you think about it. In fact, perhaps there should only be three dating options (one male, one female, one nonbinary) + the Guardian Beast, and then two or three mentor-like figures. Although, only one male and one female does mean can’t have one of each gender repping the Normal City and Hidden Village.

*Snip*

…Revise when the Manifested is created, set their creation apart from the Incarnated’s. The Phenomenon that resulted in the Manifested now occurs at protagonist age… 12~13? That’d place a few years between that and the birth of the Incarnated. -The issue here, is how anyone in the Hidden Village who was close to the protagonist, doesn’t mention their Manifested, how does that get reserved for the completion of the Remembrance arc? -Also, a total of three months now pass between the protagonist’s departure and their return during the disaster with their Incarnated baby

Another Manifested lore addition- inherent knowledge. Rather than be born devoid of knowledge, Nature itself has a store of latent memories, wisdom. The Manifested take from the local repository when they manifest. This explains how they can be born mentally adults, able to communicate in intelligible language with their Breathless, and have established personalities.

On the Incarnated’s birth and post-birth scenes, for use during the game’s opening, the Remembrance arc, and maybe once or twice after that. Some of these scenes should account for different gender combinations of parents. For instance, the first-feeding scene, an extreme deviation example. There needs to be four variants of this, plus additional text flavoring based on which element/design/personality for the Manifested was chosen.:

*Snips out my silly attempt at writing first-feeding scenes.*

For the sake of same-sex Protagonist and Manifested, the exact choice of “Parent Identifier Noun” when talking to the Incarnated is consistent and never the same for the two of them. (Except when referring to both parents together, i.e. “Don’t worry, Incarnated, your Mommies/Daddies will take care of you!”.) The Protag would probably use “Mom/Dad”, something slightly informal, but not too much so, the most average of parental monikers. “Mother/Father” would be reserved for the most formal of Manifested personality-wise. “Mama/Papa” is slightly more informal than “Mom/Dad”, but still level, good for the Manifested with a balanced personality. “Mommy/Daddy” goes to the Manifested that’s more casual, wild, or progeny-doting in personality. A fifth noun for the last Manifested variation is harder to think of, it’d probably have to be the casual/cutesy side. Alternatively, the fifth can be something more original, since it’d be for the Manifested, it could be something like “ManiMom/ManiDad”.

Clarifier that I didn’t write into the above- humans obviously have souls. But humans don’t need to regularly consume magic. Unless their soul is being depleted in some way, humans can get by simply through their normal activities of various kinds. Gaining additional spiritual essence can strengthen and invigorate a human, and it could be used to keep them perpetually young & extant in a stasis. But to subsist awake solely on natural power requires one become biologically something other than pure human.

Manifested, being nature spirits, engage in the consumption of material food and drink only as a matter of recreation and bonding with humans and their culture. Normal nutritional value is meaningless to a Manifested, all that matters to them is the essence within. The material matter is broken down and dissipated into the air. A Manifested truly lives on the natural power alone.

Incarnated, being half-human half-spirit, have flexibility and weakness. Incarnated have physical bodies that need sustaining, and souls that are significantly larger than humans’ and in need of continual replenishment. An Incarnated can replace some of their physical substance with solidified mana -or whatever you call the pseudo-material substance that the Manifested make their visible bodies out of. An Incarnated can also extract nature’s essence from material food and beverage. However, an Incarnated can’t ditch the normal matter in their bodies entirely, they can’t remain an Incarnated solely as a spiritual being. And, the Incarnated cannot extract spirit from substance as efficiently as the Manifested can.

 

…Can Incarnated create Manifested? Maybe… no? Breathless create Manifested, Breathless + Manifested create Incarnated. Incarnated create… Persona Emanations? The logic would go as follows.:

Humans lack the spiritual capacity to contain all the energies that a Phenomenon fills them with. The Manifested that result or are strengthened from Phenomena, receive that surplus of natural power. Their existence is an unconscious attempt of the human will to contain that overflowing essence, but failing to do so, still manage to shape it. If the Phenomenon contained so much environmental might that it threatened to tear the Breathless apart, the Manifested would instinctually seek to vent enough of the natural power to prevent that from happening to their Breathless.

Manifested maintain an enduring link to the vessel that attempted to receive essence. This link is very very difficult, though not impossible, to sever (-modification of the old idea that Manifested must die with their Breathless). Without this link, these heavily-defined nature spirits would gradually lose their form, becoming less powerful, less intelligent, more wispy nature spirits. Eventually, they could fade and turn back to naught but lifeless natural energy.

Incarnated are the offspring of Breathless and Manifested. The Incarnated possess no inherent link to either parent, they are independent creatures.

During a Phenomenon, the Manifested becomes suffused with incredible natural power, more than that a human could contain, or attempt to contain outside of themselves on their own. Without necessarily intending to do so, the inflow of power causes the Manifested to attempt to redirect some to their Breathless via their link.

The surge of mana within the Breathless physically affects them, a very slim probability of very specific cellular activity becomes possible. This specific activity sees two gametes (potentially from anywhere in the body) created and then fused together into a zygote, with the natural power overflow triggering chromosomal gene-swaps and or mutations in the genetic code, not a perfect copy of the Breathless parent’s genome. This the conception of the physical aspect of the Incarnated.

On the spiritual side, the Phenomena’s intense nature energy as taken in by the Manifested, results in the zygote with vastly-expanded soul capacity than a normal human. It is the Manifested’s soul that becomes the basis of the Incarnated’s, with a just hint of their Breathless’s being carried along in the spiritual flood. Since it contains a defined soul, if a tiny one, and not merely spiritual energies, the zygote naturally begins attracting more essence towards it.

The Phenomenon can be said to end with the conception of the zygote. After that, the ambient natural power in the environment rapidly declines, though it remains highly concentrated around the parents and the conceived Incarnated, and does so until after the Incarnated is born (or tragically dies for some reason). The period of time between the Phenomenon conception and the birth of a new Incarnated, can be called the Interstitial.

When the Incarnated zygote is conceived, if the parents notice it (if they don’t nurture it, the zygote ceases biological functioning), it becomes the singular object of their attention. By this point, both Breathless and Manifested have entered a deep trance. As the outlet of the Phenomenon’s overwhelming power, the two instinctually pour their souls and attention into their single-celled progeny. Unthinkingly, the Manifested acts on their Breathless’s unspoken desire to nurture their offspring, and breaks down “spare” cells in their body and streams it into the natural power flow, to provide ready organic molecules which the zygote can use to undergo cellular division (making their new cells out of liquidated Breathless cells). Thus, for a successful Incarnated creation, the Breathless has to be of good health to endure the process.

The zygote’s maturation into an embryo and then fetus before emerging as a completed occurs within a mana womb, almost always external of both parents, but located near them. The mana womb and the placement of the zygote within it is the result of the Manifested, something embedded in them, for the knowledge of it lay in Nature’s Repository. A memory inherited from the very first Manifested who discovered this means of magical procreation, who so long ago diffused back into the Nature from whence it came.

The process from zygote to birth, the Interstitial, takes time. Far, far less than a natural human gestation, yet it still requires days, or even weeks, upwards of a little over a month, the rate can vary. During this time, all normal needs of the Breathless parent cease, minus that of breathing, the Phenomenon places their bodily needs into stasis. The Manifested may generate a protective barrier around themselves, their Breathless partner, and their Incarnated child. The Manifested may also withdraw their solidified mana material form and instead possess their Breathless for more efficient Incarnated creation, they can do that during the Phenomenon and following Interstitial.

As the Incarnated’s physical body begins to take develop in the mana womb, as a means of storing excess spirit, -either out of need or to have reserves for when natural power starvation occurs- their souls turn the spirit into solid mana. This can take the inorganic appearance of crystals, or it can, tapping into Nature’s memory and the element of the Manifested and the personality of either parent, have animal/fungal/plantlike features.

Since these magical components of the Incarnated are derived from their soul, they are not encoded in their own gametes. A human child born of an Incarnated might have a slightly superior soul capacity than a normal human, and perhaps a pinch of affinity towards their Incarnated parent’s element. However, even if born of two Incarnated, the child will not be Incarnated themselves, merely a normal human. They will not have mana material embedded in their physical body, since DNA doesn’t code for it.

Attempts to elevate the natural power level during the conception of a child doesn’t work either, the intensity of a Phenomenon simply can’t be replicated in a lab. Not only that, but Incarnated aren’t linked to their reproductive partners the way Breathless and Manifested are.  If an Incarnated tried linking themselves to their partner, their materiality would prevent what their Manifested parent did. They would have to cease being Incarnated and shed their physical bodies to make the link, which is simply fatally impossible.

Owing to their increased need for nature’s energies, and expanded soul capacity, Incarnated cannot produce Manifested. Natural power can’t overflow from them the way it can in normal humans- no venting, no Manifested. If an Incarnated were in such an extreme situation that even they needed to vent natural power, their fate would be different from their Manifested parent as well. The Manifested can send it through their Breathless via their link and then create an Incarnated, there is no such link for an Incarnated. Devoid of that safety valve, the soul of the Incarnated will certainly get washed away in the spiritual flood, to leave its body and cease to be, becoming Nature itself once more- a Returning event. (If the venting fails in a Manifested, they would likely become saturated with spirit beyond even their high capacities, and then sever their link to their Breathless, then like an Incarnated, become part of Nature once more- the very rare event known as a Parting. If the link to their Breathless wasn’t broken, they would stand a very real chance of being torn apart by the natural power and also die.)

Should there be a great influx of natural energy over a sustained period of time that won’t overwhelm an Incarnated out of existence, there is a possible result, known as a Fissioning. A Fissioning splinters the surge of spirit in two, creating two connected souls within one body. One soul is typically referred to as the “Monad” -that which came first- the other is called an “Emanation” -that which only exists because of the Fissioning. Although if one soul is not predominant or they do not wish to be regarded in hierarchy, both may be called “Emanations”. According to the spiritual conditions around the Fissioning, it’s possible that the element and personality of the Emanation may differ from the Monad.

The two souls share memories and all else, though their appearance within their soul cage may differ. So too, should it be willed, the mana materializations and some simple physical traits like hair and eye color, be altered according to which soul controls their body.

Fissioning can happen multiple times, though it is quite unlikely. Indeed, most Incarnated never even once undergo Fission, it requires an incredible amount of natural power for that to occur. Fissioning “stretches” the soul capacity of the Incarnated’s body to an extent, although, this expansion should not be carelessly pursued, as everyone has some sort of limit, and Incarnated can only fit so much soul in the physical bodies that are as much them.

Limited projection -not very far at all- of an Emanation or the Monad from the body in mana material form, is possible. Sensory/cognitive overload due to potentially doubled sensory/cognitive activity can happen. Though most of the time, an Incarnated’s souls would be exhausted having both selves fully active at the same time, one will usually slumber or at least recede to semi-conscious observation within their body given to the other personality. The destruction/death of one soul with the body perfectly fine, would not lead to the demise of the other soul. Though losing you, another myself, would probably leave the survivor in critical condition, in need of staying in the metaphoric hospital bed until enough of a spiritual recovery is complete.

 

On the consumption of spirit. Spirit that is “used up”, is different from matter. Matter, the scientific laws around it IRL, state that it cannot be created nor destroyed. For Runecraft Story, this does not apply to spirit. Spirit that is “consumed” is said to “ascend” or “descend”. Spirit itself appears in this world, seemingly without reason. Theologians, philosophers, alchemists, scientists, almost all the great minds agree spirit has to come from somewhere and go somewhere, but where exactly is unknown. Spirit (or natural power or mana or nature energies, all the same thing) is speculated to come from another realm, as in a Neoplatonic or Gnostic interpretation of reality. Is the realm from which spirit enters this world, the same realm as the one it leaves this plane of existence for when it has been “used-up”? Nobody knows, and it’s practically impossible to discover the truth.

 

Yeah, you’ve written so much lore that it’d need more than one game to explore it all. Especially because you insist on keeping Breathless, Manifested, and Incarnated at a minimum for the sake of your story ideas. One game to define ideas, another to expand on them.

 

On survivors of the Disaster. Normal Arboreal definitely survive, in large numbers. Manifested however, if they were present at the Mid-Year Festival, they likely chose to stay and fight/seal the Evil One. Since Manifested are linked to their Breathless, they also stayed behind. As the Control of Darkness began setting in, it became difficult for Manifested and Incarnated to escape. But what of anyone who didn’t attend the Mid-Year Festival and stayed in their distant Arboreal municipalities?

Consider, for enemies, giving the Evil One mind-control/corruption powers. That would allow for bosses who are humans, Manifested, and Incarnated taken over by darkness.

Demographics, you hate trying to define those fine details for thinking they’d limit you later.

Since you’ve now written in the link between Breathless and Manifested, you need an explanation for how the Protag’s can continue to endure despite severing the link to send the Protag away from Ground Zero. On the positive side, you now have a reason for the amnesia, the breaking of the link causes the Protag to lose some memories, particularly those related to their Manifested and their Incarnated.

 

On the Incarnated, should any mana material aspects of them be solely determined by their Manifested parent? Or, being their own beings with a high degree of sensitivity to nature, should they be able to gradually acquire other aspects? And why can’t their Breathless parent undergo a Phenomenon in a setting different from the one which conjured up their Manifested parent? To pick two extremes, the Manifested being willed into form in a hot, dry, windless desert 500 kilometers inland, and the Incarnated is conceived upon an ice floe in a blizzard?

 

Unlike a Blade or a Guardian Beast, as you’ve written it that Manifested don’t exist prior to the Phenomenon that brings them forth to their Breathless. Adding in the link to their Breathless master, and are the Manifested a kind of child to their Breathless? Would, therefore a Breathless falling in love with their Manifested, or any Incarnated they produce, then, be incest?

Well, it’d be basically the same as a researcher falling in love with an android of their own design. Both Manifested and robot being born physically mature with mature, rational intelligence. And since the hazards of incest apply solely to genetics, which are a physical matter and Manifested are all soul, some of the yuck factor associated with incest wouldn’t exist.

I feel like there would have to be a scene -probably flashback to maybe a year after the Protag acquired their Manifested companion- where they talk about this. The Protag, in peculiar moment of mental clarity, has a thought dawn on them. Is what they’re feeling, if it’s love for their Manifested, is this okay? They have the incest thought, they think about how the Manifested is entirely dependent on them, and how they’ve been alive for so short a time. The Protag knows it’s traditionally acceptable to love one’s Manifested, but tradition that doesn’t mean it’s actually right.

The Manifested, taking a deep breath, begins laying out their response. (Or, it’s a back-and-forth wherein the Manifested responds to every issue the Protag raises.) They like their Breathless, and they aren’t forced to. If nature (fate) had been given them a Breathless whom they shouldn’t approve of, they wouldn’t, the symbiosis doesn’t shackle their free will. As for the matter of age, the lifespans of different organisms vary greatly, some reach adulthood in days, others years. Some live for decades, others weeks. They are a Manifested, from Nature’s Repository and their Breathless, they took form as a rational, grown entity, that is how their life cycle begins. They then add that though they wish to be treated well, they are Manifested, not human, they need not, perhaps should not, be treated exactly the same in every way.

Lastly, if their Breathless loves them, that’s fine, if not, that’s fine too. They tell their Breathless to take their time developing their thoughts. Whatever their bond be or become, no matter what may happen, the Manifested wishes only to be treated well.

…Does that sound like a good excuse to allow for Breathless-Manifested love?😅

-Also, let’s make it clear, a Manifested even if they are linked, is not instinctually guaranteed to love their Breathless. They can disagree, fail to get along. The Breathless is likewise not guaranteed to love their Manifested.

 

One thing about Swordcraft Story- the ability to trigger a chat at any time with your Guardian Beast. Can’t do that from the start if the Shade doesn’t show up until the first arc is done. Also, on weapon crafting, the Guardian Beast was lore-wise essential, can’t do that when the Shade isn’t around either. Need a workaround for this.

A possibility would always be, if using the combat system of Swordcraft Story as the base, to have somebody else hanging around the Protag. Somebody they can chat with, somebody who can fight with them. I think I’d amend the system to feature two characters on the field at once instead of just one though. Perhaps they too could help with crafting …or not.

Later, once the Shade is unlocked, they will always be present for conversation. And in combat, they’ll fight as a third character on the field, in an assisting role, being they’ll lack for solid mana material. In crafting, they will definitely play a role in complicating the system and be necessary to obtain the strongest weapons.

 

Just to have it clearly defined- Nature’s Repository. Nature is not like a giant fungus, a vast organism humans don’t recognize but exists with an intelligence unlike our own. Rather, with all the energies that comprise it, all the beings that fill it, somehow, in some mysterious way, the knowledge, memories, feelings of the organisms that have lived become embedded in it.

Manifested are born with knowledge, imprinted sensations/memories, copied from Nature’s Repository. These, combined with knowledge derived from the brain of the Breathless (because I say so- only knowledge is copied from the Breathless, not personal memories), explain how a Manifested comes into existence mentally mature and informed on many basic things.

 

Manifested not surviving their Breathless keeps your original, if perhaps antiquated and unneeded, notion of an egalitarian society intact. Since otherwise, the ageless Manifested would be able to become a revered elite over the human mortals.

 

Spirit, Natural Power, Energy, Matter. How to define the relationship between these things?

…Well, Natural Power how about as another form of Energy? Thus, magic is tied to normal physics. As Energy is Matter in a different form, Natural Power, being a form of Energy, is thereby another shape of Matter.

However, Spirit complicates this. Spirit cannot directly interact with Matter. The confinement of Spirit in corporeal bodies -souls- is the biological result of organic structures constantly emitting Energy such that they confine Spirit within the bodies. Energy is difficult for Spirit to directly manipulate, although it can, to an extent. What Spirit interacts very easily with is Natural Power, and through it, Spirit can manipulate Energy and Matter.

 

Mana Material- A peculiar, flexible substance. Usually, Mana Material is a solid, though gaseous and liquid forms are also possible. Mana Material results from the encapsulation of Energy in Natural Power, which is then encased in more Energy, and the outer Energy layer is then converted into Matter. Resulting in Energy and Natural Power confined by a minimal Matter layer. Mana Material is a physical substance, allowing organisms to interact with it. Mana Material is capable of containing Spirit. While it sounds complicated, Manifested come into being knowing how to readily shape it, and it comprises the entirety of their bodies. Incarnated produce some Mana Material as part of their bodies too. And, the substance can occur naturally too.

 

Spirit exists diffuse in the world. When it reaches a critical mass within a cage of Natural Power or Energy, it condenses into a Soul. The Soul contains sentience, yet without a material body it is insensitive to Matter. It exists, it feels Spirit, Natural Power, and Energy, but lacking cognition, it cannot translate these sensations into thoughts and words.

 

If one sought to sever a Manifested from their Breathless and have it endure, to not recede into nature, then its options would be limited… One could be to create prison that utilizes Energy, Natural Power, and Matter in such a way that nothing of the Manifested can leak out. The slightest hole in the design would permit a gradual diffusion of the Manifested, however. Another choice would be attaching them to another living being, but nothing that could lead to the serious reshaping of the Manifested. Nor could the new host be so deficient on a spiritual level that it wouldn’t be able to keep the Manifested’s form.

*Small snip*

Remembering Alpha 1 and 4/F, does one make the personality of the Manifested selectable independent of the design? Would mean even more variable writing though, since it’d require elemental references and personality references be separated. It would have the added benefit of letting the player be less likely to get stuck with a personality they don’t like, simply because they chose a specific personality.

 

I’m only realizing now that the choice to set up a lover for the Protag, but have them taken away right away, coincidentally resembles another Flight Plan title- Black Matrix. Oh how I wish that was translated.😆 On the positive side, it means such a thing has been done before, so it can be done again.

…But maybe you shouldn’t structure the opening like BM’s. -Not that you have any idea of how it actually goes, given you can’t play the game being that it’s in Japanese alone. Darn it!

 

Does the modern town have evil people in it? How many if so? The primary bad guy would be the Evil One, as a simple antagonist. Should there be something else to add some variety?

A reason for the town’s existence. What would drive people to set up a settlement on the edge of a wild island presumably a good distance from the rest of civilization? Is the land simply that fertile, the ocean that plentiful, or did they find a rare resource?

 

Should one flashback be themed around the Manifested’s element? What should the scene then entail? The same thing regardless of element, or varying based on element? For the same thing, for instance- sitting in a field of spring flowers and pollen (Wind), laying on the sand with feet touching the tides (Fire), jumping into a pile of fallen leaves (Earth), and making snow angels (Water). For different things, this would be harder to come up with. Although, we could consider not aligning each element with one particular season.

Or, if we wanted to include two elemental flashbacks, both one same and one different, we theme one around different seasons but the same general locale, and the other season-ambiguous but around very different locales. So, for the different elemental flashback- running around on rolling plains during severe storms (Wind), trekking through desert (Fire), mountain climbing (Earth), and fishing at sea (Water). …Although these aren’t actually all that different as far as activities go.😅 I suppose cultural things, human activities like campfires, and things with just a subtle node to the elements are in ways necessary, if you want to have a lot of these kinds of scenes.

If personality can be selected independent of element/design then a flashback should be used on this. With four elements, there should be four personalities. As for what those personalities should be, well they should be more than one-note, given this is an extremely important character! But four general one-phrase summaries? Not sure. I’m not good with characters.

 

Combat, maybe don’t do side-perspective like Swordcraft. Top-down could fit in more characters, and be freer. Maybe.

On elements, not having light and dark isn’t unheard of. Yet, if I wanted them, without making it seem odd that they don’t have Manifested, then I can think of a solution. Secondary elements, comprised of two Primary elements, as in Arc Rise Fantasia. You can copy it wholesale. Although, Light and Dark not being total opposites is odd. Yet Ice only makes sense as Water + Earth. Well, if thou implies darkness is cold, and light hot, then you could make Water + Earth = Dark. That’d leave Fire + Earth empty, however, how does one fill that? Does one split Earth between Earth (Plants) and Metal and where does Rock fall? Kinda odd for a nature-themed game. Maybe you’re better off sticking to Ice and making Light and Dark halfsies. Lightning as Water + Wind makes sense, because storms carry lightning.

 

On the flashbacks, there should be some indoors, some in the middle of civilization. Yes, nature is important here, but remember- the Breathless and Manifested lived ordinary lives together for several years. And not all of a relationship is lovey-dovey experiences doing recreation in nice places. Most of it is ordinary life doing ordinary things not so magical.

And that's basically everything so far.

I wrote too much lore.😆

Edited May 31 by Interdimensional Observer

[Acacia Sgt]

Man, that's quite well thought out!

Gonna say, it reminds me of my own musings regarding RF fanfic ideas. I have entertained the idea of what could be plausible to happen as a result of Earthmate powers. Due to how much it is tied to runes, as in, a special life force? The fact it does factor about the life and health of crops and the very land itself (and also as we see with Ventuswill and her life sustained by runes), I do have wondered if it could extrapolate to other forms of life.

Not that it's that wild of an idea anymore. RF5 already gave us children via magical origin, and even SoS jumped on the idea already.

[Interdimensional Observer]

11 minutes ago, Acacia Sgt said:

Man, that's quite well thought out!

When the mood struck.😆

And it's mostly lore ...but good luck getting me to write characters or decide on the steps and specifics within a plot.😝 Think of it like meticulously applying brushstrokes to the canvas and creating one incredible landscape ...yet there's a big blank space in middle of the painting where the people should be. I'd rather detail the process of magical conception and gestation than try creating a personality.🤣

12 minutes ago, Acacia Sgt said:

Not that it's that wild of an idea anymore. RF5 already gave us children via magical origin, and even SoS jumped on the idea already.

Only b/c gay, no? -Which is fine, b/c yay there's gay.😁 ...But if it weren't for that, magic babies wouldn't exist. -Unless you're counting how Frontier lets you make monsters reproduce by giving them rune stones.

21 minutes ago, Acacia Sgt said:

Gonna say, it reminds me of my own musings regarding RF fanfic ideas. I have entertained the idea of what could be plausible to happen as a result of Earthmate powers. Due to how much it is tied to runes, as in, a special life force? The fact it does factor about the life and health of crops and the very land itself (and also as we see with Ventuswill and her life sustained by runes), I do have wondered if it could extrapolate to other forms of life.

Thinking about it, we don't really have all that much that could be considered to specifically stem from Earthmate status? The protagonists have never fired off green hadokens the size of mansions, nor changed the seasons in a blink.

-The random thought just popped in my head of "Monsters... no, the Protagonist takes it upon themselves to use their own life force to sustain the entire village over a prolonged time period for one reason or another". A rather selfless, somber act demanding a truly great soul.